Oh brother! Bobby Wadkins thrives on Senior PGA Tour

HUNT VALLEY, Md. -- Success on the senior tour has done more for Bobby Wadkins than merely renew his hunger for victory. It's also enabled him to finally get the better of his illustrious big brother.

Wadkins joined the senior circuit last August after a 26-year career during which he failed to record a single victory in 777 PGA events. He ended the drought in his first senior tournament, winning the Lightpath Long Island Classic by one stroke.

Although he's still in search of his second victory, Wadkins ranks seventh on the current money list and has amassed more than $3 million in career earnings.

"I have made enough money, so that I should be free enough to be thinking about nothing but winning golf tournaments," he said. "At this point, I'm playing for wins."

That is Wadkins' lone goal at The Greater Baltimore Classic, which gets underway Friday at Hayfield Country Club.

The longtime pro will set aside some practice time to hone his game for next week's U.S. Senior Open, but when he tees it up at No. 1, his focus will be on beating defending champ Allen Doyle, Bruce Fleisher and everyone else in the field.

"I'm here to play as good as I can play this week," Wadkins said. "I'll worry about the U.S. Open next week."

For much of his career, Wadkins has played in the shadow of his older brother, Lanny, who won 21 events on the PGA Tour -- including the 1977 PGA Championship -- and played on eight Ryder Cup teams, serving as the captain in 1995.

Lanny Wadkins currently ranks 38th on the senior money list, but Bobby insists there's never been a sibling rivalry between them.

"There's nobody who has pulled for me or done more for my game than Lanny. Every tournament last year, if he wasn't playing, he'd call me and tell me how to play each hole," Bobby said. "I've never done anything but been very proud of my brother. I have a saying: There are three people you can't mess with -- my wife, my son and my brother."

Lanny Wadkins is one of several big names who opted to skip this tournament to focus on the U.S. Senior Open. Hale Irwin, Tom Kite and Fuzzy Zoeller are also absent.

But Bobby Wadkins is on a hot streak, having tied for seventh in the BellSouth Classic last week after finishing second in the Senior PGA Championship.

"I had a good tournament last week and the week before," he said. "I'm just playing well, and if you're playing well then you need to be playing."

Wadkins is certainly considered to be one of the contenders for the $217,500 top prize. With his victory in New York last year, he became the youngest winner in the history of the Senior Tour at 50 years, 10 days.

He also established himself as a new threat on the circuit.

"Bobby has played very well in the short time he's been out here," Fleisher said. "I think he's hungry. I think he's still got something to prove, and I think he's doing a darn good job of it."

For Wadkins, second place is no longer good enough.

"I'm out here to win golf tournaments," he said. "I'm not going to throw away money, but if I'm coming down the stretch of a tournament and I have to take a chance to win, then the money will not be a factor."